Read This, Read That Favorite - Halloween

BIG PUMPKIN
by Erica Silverman






Erica Silverman has created one of my favorite adaptations of traditional literature. BIG PUMPKIN is a Halloween adaptation of the Russian folktale, THE TURNIP. In this amusing, cumulative tale about a witch, her huge pumpkin, and her graveyard friends, readers learn about working together, sharing, and understanding that everyone has something to contribute. Schindler's vivid, full-spread illustrations help set the nighttime mood and add the perfect amount of fright and fun to the lively narrative. The repetitive and rhythmic language makes this an excellent read aloud sure to be enjoyed by all.

"Rousing good fun for the Halloween season and beyond" -School Library Journal

Silverman, Erica. (1992). Ill. by S. D. Schindler. BIG PUMPKIN. New York, NY: Simon & Schuster Children's Publishing Division. ISBN 0689801297

Years of Dust by Albert Marrin

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Marrin, Albert. (2009). Years of Dust: The Story of the Dust Bowl. New York, NY: Dutton Children’s Books, A division of Penguin Group. ISBN 9780525420774

PLOT SUMMARY

Author Albert Marrin brings the dangerous and immense, historical “black blizzard” dust storms of the Great Plains to young readers. Offering both a historical and environmental context, Marrin provides an extraordinary overview to the Dust Bowl of the 1930s.

CRITICAL ANALYSIS

     A Time Line and detailed account of the ecological make-up of the Great Plains provides young readers with the circumstantial background for the subsequent catastrophe created in part by drought and reckless human behavior. The engaging and clearly written narrative reads like a documentary film with the relevant integration of first-person accounts of the day-in, day-out struggles (“All we could do about it was just sit…gaze at each other through fog that filled the room…covering everything –including ourselves –in this brownish gray blanket…”) and the popular Dust Bowl Ballads by Woodie Guthrie.  

     Equally significant to the story are riveting, archival images including photographs, news paper clippings, maps, engravings, and period posters found throughout the book. Titled insets providing additional information pertinent to the cohesive, chronological narrative are included in each chapter. In the final chapter, Marrin discusses current, ecological situations in the world that threaten future, similar disasters. Chapter Notes and Bibliography detailing both primary and secondary sources are included at the back of the book as well as a glossary (Words to Know), Index, and suggested titles for further reading (Books for Kids).

REVIEW EXCERPTS

2009 Booklist Editors’ Choice Books for Youth

2010 Notable Children’s Books

2008 James Madison Lifetime Achievement Award (honoring Albert Marrin)

Starred review in SCHOOL LIBRARY JOURNAL – “Marrin's outstanding writing and the high-quality illustrations make this cautionary tale a worthy addition.”

Starred review in KIRKUS – “…a reader-friendly, insightful work of history.”

NEW YORK TIMES review – “…Years of Dust is a lucid and powerful book.”

CONNECTIONS

*Teachers can use the book as a resource when studying The Great Depression, The Dust Bowl, or when reading novels such as The Grapes of Wrath and Bud, Not Buddy.

*Find: “Black Blizzards: A Webquest on the 1930’s Dust Bowl” here.

*More books by Albert Marrin:

Marrin, Albert. Flesh & Blood So Cheap: The Triangle Fire and Its Legacy. ISBN 0375868895

Marrin, Albert. Black Gold: The Story of Oil in Our Lives. ISBN 0375866736

*Recommended books on the Great Depression and the Dust Bowl:

Freedman, Russell. Children of the Great Depression. ISBN 0547480350

Stanley, Jerry. Children of the Dust Bowl: The True Story of the School at Weedpatch Camp. ISBN 0517880946

Hitler Youth by Susan Campbell Bartoletti

BIBLIOGRAPHY
Bartoletti, Susan Campbell. (2005). Hitler Youth: Growing Up in Hitler’s Shadow. New York, NY: Scholastic, Inc. ISBN 0439353793

PLOT SUMMARY

Hitler Youth offers an in-depth and captivating look at the children and young adults that grew up and followed (or opposed) Hitler and the Nazi party during the twelve years of the Third Reich. Intrigued by the hope of a promising future in Germany, thousands of young Germans created one of the largest youth groups in history –this is their story.

CRITICAL ANALYSIS
      Susan Campbell Bartoletti creates a story that makes history accessible to young readers by capturing the voices and feelings of the youth during Hitler’s reign. With a focus on the youth of Germany and their choices, readers are offered an in-depth view of young Germans’ feelings and reactions to Hitler: “I belonged to Adolf Hitler, body and soul,” –Alfons Heck. Also, from those disenchanted with Hitler: “I just want the German people to think…to know the truth…” –Helmuth Hübener. Historical black and white photographs and maps, included on each double-page spread, help to illustrate the fascinating narrative (a photograph acknowledgement page is also included at the end of the book).

      Each chapter begins with a quote providing the context for the chapter. One particularly unsettling chapter “Where One Burns Books” discusses the Nazi education taught to young students. The quote used for the chapter’s title, written one hundred years earlier by Heinrich Heine (a German poet of Jewish origin) –“Where one burns books, one will, in the end, burn people,” is a chilling forecast of the events to come. The final chapter challenges readers to consider the horrific, documented events in the book in effort to dissuade future occurrences.

      Short biographies of the twelve young people included in the story set in motion the excellent narrative preceded by a Contents page. Even more interesting are the Epilogue pages that provide further information on what happened after the war to those twelve young people. An Author’s Notes page includes information about personal communication and interviews used within the book which are also detailed in the Quote Sources pages and Bibliography at the end of the book.

REVIEW EXCERPTS

2006 Newbery Honor Award

2006 Sibert Honor Award

2006 Orbis Pictus Honor Award

2006 Parents’ Choice Award – Gold Winner

Starred review in SCHOOL LIBRARY JOURNAL – “Bartoletti lets many of the subjects' words, emotions, and deeds speak for themselves, bringing them together clearly to tell this story unlike anyone else has."

Starred review in BOOKLIST –“The handsome book design, with stirring black-and-white historical photos on every double-page spread, will bring in readers and help spark deep discussion..."

Starred review in KIRKUS – “Nonfiction writing as its best…Superb.”

CONNECTIONS
*Teachers can use the book to build background on Hitler, the Nazi Party, and World War II.

*Discuss the use of Nazi propaganda to disgrace the Jews; also, the use Anti-Nazi propaganda used to inform citizens.

*Text can lead to further discussion of dictatorship and democratic governments.

More award winning books by Susan Campbell Bartoletti:

Bartoletti, Susan C. Black Potatoes: The Story of the Great Irish Famine, 1845-1850. ISBN 0618548831

Bartoletti, Susan, C. Kids on Strike! ISBN 0618369236

Wicked Girls by Stephanie Hemphill

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Hemphill, Stephanie. Wicked Girls: A Novel of the Salem Witch Trials. New York, NY: Balzer + Bray, A division of Harper Collins. ISBN 0061853283

PLOT SUMMARY

Written in verse, Wicked Girls tells a fictionalized account of the Salem Witch trials both stirred and seen by three real young girls living in Salem in 1692. The story is told from the perspectives of Ann Putnam Jr, Mercy Lewis, and Margaret Walcott as their initial girls’ play unfolds into accusations, power struggles, and death.

CRITICAL ANALYSIS

     Wicked Girls is a story reflecting a time in history that equally translates to issues of cliques, exclusive groups, and social power relevant to young adults today. Using 17^th century language and vocabulary in the verse and dialogue of the text –“We can tell fortunes…But that be a sin…Not if none does catch us”- adds to the credibility of the characters and story. Similes, such as “And for the first time I recall / Missus looks at Ann / as though she is something / precious, dear as her necklace of gems” and personification, like in “night crawls over the house / Footsteps creep down the hall…” offer insight to the girls’ thoughts and experiences.

      Author Stephanie Hemphill is able to impart story information slowly with maximum effect through the use of free verse with short stanzas and narrator changes, such as the relationship between Margaret and Isaac, the jealously towards Mercy, the developing friendships, and the girls’ fabricated afflictions.

      Quick narrative imparts a feeling of uncertainty as the “afflicted” girls’ story is woven in the thoughts and points of view of Ann, Mercy, and Margaret. Multiple narrators add complexity that moves the story forward. This is evident in the power held by the girls as “seers” within the community –“We have been given a power here, we must retain…” (Mercy) as well as the struggle for power within the group –“We shall return to nothing, if we are not seers” (Ann); “We have been choosing who to see. And who are we to choose? This must end” (Mercy). The ensuing story eventually leads to cruelty, broken friendships, and death.

REVIEW EXCERPTS

Starred review in SCHOOL LIBRARY JOURNAL – “The verse format is fresh and engaging, distilling the actions of the seven accusing girls into riveting narrative.”

Starred review in PUBLISHER’S WEEKLY – “The expressive writing, masterful tension, and parallels to modern group dynamics create a powerful and relevant page-turner.”
Starred review in KIRKUS - “In subtle, spare first-person free-verse poems, the author skillfully demonstrates how ordinary people may come to commit monstrous acts. Haunting and still frighteningly relevant.”

CONNECTIONS

*Find a Poetry Workshop & Discussion Guide for the book here.                                                

*More about the Salem Witch Trials here.                                                                                   

*Another book by Stephanie Hemphill:                                                                                         

Hemphill, Stephanie. Your Own, Silvia: A Verse Portrait of Sylvia Path. ISBN 0440239680           

*More books about the Salem Witch Trials:                                                                             

Aronson, Marc. Witch Hunt: Mysteries of the Salem Witch Trials. New York, NY: Simon & Schuster Children’s Publishing Division. ISBN 0689848641                                                                        

Hearn, Julie. The Minister’s Daughter. ISBN 0689876912                                                         

Rinaldi, Ann. A Break from Charity: A Story about the Salem Witch Trials. ISBN 0152046828

Red Sings from Treetops by Joyce Sidman

BIBLIOGRAPHY
Sidman, Joyce. Red Sings from Treetops: A Year in Colors. Ill. by Pamela Zagarenski. New York, NY: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. ISBN 0547014945

PLOT SUMMARY
Award-winning author Joyce Sidman brings colors to life while celebrating the seasons of the year via a medley of sight, sound, smell, and taste. Poems are accompanied by the fanciful and dazzling illustrations created by painter Pamela Zagarenski.  

CRITICAL ANALYSIS           
      Readers experience color as they never have before in this collection of seasonal poems seen and felt through the lens of color. Red “squirms on the road after rain” in the spring and “hops to treetops, fluffs its feathers against the cold” of winter. Yellow “melts everything it touches…smells like butter, tastes like salt” invigorating the sight, smell, and taste of yellow in the summertime. My favorite, Green, also finds its place in each season: shyly “peeks from buds” in the spring, “is the queen in summer”, “is tired, dusty, crisp around the edges” in fall, and “darkens, shrinks…waits in the hearts of trees” in winter.            

       Arrangement and language in short phrases and lines create a staccato rhythm of the poems with occasional rhyme –“Green trills from trees / clings to Pup’s knees / covers all with leaves, leaves, leaves!” Joyce Sidman incorporates onomatopoeia within the book with the “cheer cheer cheer” of the red robin’s song, the “BOOM!” of the white lightning storms in spring, the “Snap!” of the grey frog’s tongue catching a moth, and the “crunch!” of the crisp, red apple in fall. Highlighted, colored words and playful text placement add visual interest and balance to the full-page illustrations.

       Detailed, folk-art-ish, mixed-media illustrations by Pamela Zagarenski are created with acrylic, colored pencil, and collage usually painted on wood with some computer graphics. The whimsical and intricate creations directly complement and enhance the moods within the poems. Readers are sure to find a beloved color singing a favorite time of the year!

REVIEW EXCERPTS

2010 Caldecott Honor Award

2009 Cybils Poetry Award

Starred review in BOOKLIST – “As the title implies, the colors that surprise on every page, do sing.”

Starred review in HORN BOOK – “Sustaining the playfulness of the text and its sense of awe, mystery, and beauty, the illustrations contribute gracefully to the celebration.”

Starred review in KIRKUS – “This whimsical color calendar sparkles with creativity.”

CONNECTIONS
*Activity guide by the Junior Library Guild here.

*Invite children to think about their favorite color and how it makes them feel. Explore other feelings and their possible “color” match.

*Discuss the use of color personification within the poems and invite children to create their own.

*Another collaboration by Joyce Sidman and Pamela Zagarenski:

Sidman, Joyce. This is Just to Say: Poems of Apology and Forgiveness. Ill. by Pamela Zagarenski. ISBN 0618616802

*More award winning books by Joyce Sidman:

Sidman, Joyce. Song of the Water Boatman & Other Pond Poems. ISBN 0618135472

Sidman, Joyce. Dark Emperor & Other Poems of the Night. ISBN 0547152280

Blackbeard, The Pirate King by Patrick J. Lewis

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Lewis, J. Patrick. (2006). Blackbeard, The Pirate King. Washington, DC: National Geographic Society. ISBN 0792255852

PLOT SUMMARY

Fourteen biographical poems featuring historical paintings and illustrations tell of the legends, adventures, and often unlawful escapades of Captain Teach, otherwise known as Blackbeard, the Pirate –the “notorious seaman”.

CRITICAL ANALYSIS       

     J. Patrick Lewis writes about the myths, legends, and true accounts of Blackbeard as he sailed from Europe to Africa to the Caribbean Sea and finally the southern, Atlantic states. Lewis celebrates the “larger than life” persona of Blackbeard as “the most swashbuckling buccaneer of all” using rhyme and language relevant to the time that Blackbeard caroused, pilfered, and plundered the high seas.

       In some selections, the rhythm and rhyme flow effortlessly creating an instant and intense image –“The ghostly headless figure / Of Blackbeard, it is said / Still swims under the moonlight / Looking for its severed head.” In other selections, the cadence is more free and somewhat forced –“His visage shown / So frightful that it chilled his foes / Straight to the marrowbone.”

       The paintings and drawings included with the poems date from 1730 to the present and feature each artist’s interpretation of Blackbeard and his adventures; some are painted with shadowy, muted colors while others punch in fiery reds and vivid purples. Readers will appreciate both the timeline at the end of the book and the non-fiction additions after each poem that offer supplementary explanation of pirates, the symbolism of flying “colors” (flags), and Blackbeard’s exploits and final days.

REVIEW EXCERPTS

BOOKLIST review – “This poetry collection is a shivery addition to the cannon…er…canon.”

SCHOOL LIBRARY JOURNAL review – “Share this collection with reluctant poetry readers and anyone fascinated with the topic.”

BULLETIN OF THE CENTER FOR THE CHILDREN’S BOOKS review – “The stylistic range of visual interpretations is impressive.”

CONNECTIONS
*Students can further research information on Blackbeard and write about his life. See more here.

*Aside from enjoying the poems and artwork, students can discuss unfamiliar vocabulary words and their use today.

*More books by J. Patrick Lewis:

Lewis, J. Patrick. Heroes and She-roes: Poems of Amazing Everyday Heroes. ISBN 0803729251

Lewis, J. Patrick. Spot the Plot: A Riddle Book of Book Riddles. ISBN 0811846687

*More books about Blackbeard:

Croce, Pat. Blackbeard. ISBN 0762436735

Weintraub, Aileen. Blackbeard: Eighteenth-Century Pirate of the Spanish Main and Carolina Coast. ISBN 1404255583

Freedom to Read

Did you know that we are in the middle of Banned Books Week (September 30th - October 6th)? Join me in celebrating the 30th anniversary of the right to read. Check it all out at the new Banned Books website.

You can read more at the American Library Association website and find banned and challenged book lists - you may be surprised by the books on the list.

ABFFE

Also, be sure to view the great video made by Bookmans (one of my favorite bookstores in Tucson, Arizona).